Gotham: War
by beast93boy
Summary: Bruce Wayne's parents were never gunned down, thus the Batman never came to be. Without a hero to deal with, everyone in the Gotham criminal underground would have an easy time taking over.  There was a problem though, they had to deal with each other.
1. Prologue

Intro: Gotham was always a violent crime ridden city. One night however a young boy was forever changed when he saw his parents gunned down before him. He was transformed into the Batman. But what if the Batman never came to be? What if that boy's parents were never shot? What would the world of Gotham be like then?

DC Elseworlds: War

Prologue

"I'm making my way to the top!" exclaimed Harvey Dent, Gotham's District Attorney, "Soon I'll own this entire town!"

He was running for mayor. He was leading the polls by over 40 percent, and he was considered a shoo in to win. The general public of Gotham viewed him as being one of the least corrupt politicians. This was great for the elections. He also had several major crime lords funding him and blackmailing his opponents. He was indeed very far ahead in the race.

He was standing in his office, a huge grey room that was inside the Gotham Courthouse. Being in charge of every prosecutor in the city, as well as having power over private law firms, had given Dent the power to decide the outcome of nearly every court case there was. This had made it easy for him to get contacts in the criminal underworld, as well as contacts high in the government.

He smiled at his fiancé, Gilda. She smiled back. She was happy when Harvey was happy, and she knew that their already good life was going to get much better once Harvey became mayor. She was unaware of his criminal connections; something that he felt didn't need to be shared with her, though she did suspect that he was getting money from sources other than the ones she was aware of.

The phone rang. Harvey picked it up.

"Mr. Dent, there is a man here to see you. A Mr. Napier," said the voice of his secretary.

"Ah thank you dear," he said. He hung up the phone and turned to Gilda, "Well dear, I must be going."

And with that he left the room. He made his way down the steps towards the entrance lobby. When he made it there he saw a man in a trench coat.

"Ah Mr. Napier, it's a pleasure to meet you at last. After all you've done to help my campaign, I'm glad I'm finally able to meet you in person," said Dent.

The man in the trench coat chuckled.

"You should've listened to me Harvey."

Harvey looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I told you not to take money from them, but you did anyway. Did you think I wouldn't find out?" asked the strange Mr. Napier, who suddenly started laughing, "Well the joke's on you!" he shouted.

He grabbed a flask out of one of his pockets and threw its contents onto Harvey's face. Harvey started screaming, the pain was searing, and his eye was burning. Whatever was in the flask had started eating away at his face.

Mr. Napier took off heavy coat to reveal a tight fitting purple jacket, pale white skin, and a head of wild green hair. He looked like a cross between a serial killer and a clown.

He began laughing.


	2. Chapter 1: Fatal Hilarity

The following story is about a Gotham City without its protector the Batman. This chapter deals with the Joker dealing with every day situations (by which I mean the situations of being a clown themed crime lord) while at the same time revealing his origin to the reader. Therefore this chapter will be told from the Joker's point of view. This chapter takes place two days after the prologue.

Gotham: War Chapter 1

Fatal Hilarity

They say laughter is the best medicine. It also makes quite a good poison. I realized this quite some time ago, but I still smile every time I think about it. And with all the laughs going around in the room around me, it's hard not too. I look to the right of me. There is a blonde man in a tuxedo laughing manically as I sometimes do. His face is getting purple, his eyes are widening, perhaps in fear, perhaps in shock. I do not know, nor do I care. I'm just here for the laughs. And of course, the money, there's always the money. I take a watch off the blonde man's wrist, it is gold. The people who work for me go around the room collecting jewelry, money, and watches, similar to the one I just took. My henchmen, as I sometimes refer to them, are not quite as enthusiastic about comedy as I am. They are more interested in the amount of profit they will gain. They also live in fear of me, so it all evens out.

As we are collecting our spoils, I hear a voice.

"Joker! Come out now with your hands up!"

The voice of Police Captain James Gordon. I smile again. This time it is because I will have a somewhat worthy opponent to deal with. Of course I anticipated on Jim's arrival, I just never bothered to plan past the point I'm at. I order one of my henchmen to take one of the women as a hostage. I tell him to go outside and tell the police to leave or else. I know it won't work, but it would buy some time. Not that I really need time to plan my escape, it's just I don't have anything planned for the evening, so I could use something to fill my time with.

I sit down, close my eyes, and start thinking… killing time.

Old Captain Gordon and I have been good friends for years, he being the best on the force, and I being the best in my respective business. We are a lot alike. Being forced to work with people who don't understand us. Being underappreciated. It's almost like we're two sides of a coin. Well not exactly. Gordon and I are different yet similar, but he still is not quite the rival I would prefer. He is neither as smart as I am, nor is he as open minded. I'm also much better looking. I feel he understands me more than anyone else, yet not enough. If there truly is an opposite equal to every person in the world, then James Gordon is not mine. Still he is pretty close.

He was there when I was born. Well not when I was physiologically expelled from the body of my mother, but when I was born again. Shed from the shell of Jack Napier, I was born.

Jack Napier was a struggling comedian, who had a wife, and a child coming along. He sometimes liked to dress up in a costume, and call himself the Red Hood. When he wasn't failing at telling jokes, he was failing at stealing money. One day however, he found out that his wife was killed. Two corrupt policemen had let her die so that they wouldn't lose their jobs. Long boring story behind that, don't feel like reflecting upon it. To make a long story short, my wife and unborn child both ended up dead. Jack didn't quite "snap" right then and there, but he was certainly a changed man after that. He gave up on comedy and decided to try and avenge his wife and child. He tried raising hell for the entire Gotham police team. He robbed stores and mugged pedestrians, eventually gaining attention for himself. He was a far better thief now that his motive was revenge.

After a while, he attracted the attention of several gang lords. They offered him jobs, they all wanted the service of the Red Hood. By then the old Jack Napier was dead, and all that was left was the Red Hood, a man compelled by a lust for vengeance and violence. Comedy meant nothing to him. People weren't going to be laughing anymore. One day however, he angered one of the crime lords, Carmine Falcone, a new guy who had recently taken over his gang after his father was gunned down. In order to make himself known, and to make an example of those who he deemed unworthy, he decided to put a hit out for the Red Hood, who had taken money from the gang. The Red Hood was found by several hitmen and cornered in an old factory that he was robbing. The Red Hood had killed several of them, when one of them, acting on pure impulse, triggered a bomb that blew up the entire building. No one survived. Except for one person. That person, knocked completely unconsious was found by the police. He was taken to the Police Station, and when he awoke was greeted by the Police Commisioner, and his subordinate Sergeant James Gordon. The survivor was confused, who was he, where was he. The police didn't help either. Throwing him into an interagation room, and bombarding him with more questions. He looked around. He saw the mirror. Well it wasn't exactly a mirror, but it was one of those one glass walls that could be seen through from one side, and was a mirror on the other. He saw himself. Damn he was goodlooking. He remembered who he was, and decided what he was going to be. I suppose that was the instant when he snapped and I was born. The survivor looked into the mirror, and saw the Joker. You see, his mind was quite unstable from the accident, but when he saw me, he realized that his life was the ultimate joke. A failed comedian who gave up all the jokes, had come to look like a clown. A spitting image of the Joker from a deck of cards. Pale skin and wild green hair. I'm still not sure how I came to end up looking like that, but I'm glad I did. So that's my story. Interesting is it not.

Now I come to the end of my reflection. I look up. The police are coming into the room, brandishing guns and nightsticks. I laugh, reach into my pocket and pull out a big red button that says push me. I warn all the cops to stop or I'll push it. They do stop, and one tells them that I'm bluffing. Another tells him how crazy I am. I tell him how I take offense to being called crazy, and I shoot him. With laugh gas of course. I believe the best way to do anything is to do it with a smile on, even if what you're doing is dying. I then press the button. At first nothing happens, the police circle around me, but then something explodes. I'm not quite sure what but out of nowhere comes a loud BOOM! Suddenly there are unicycles and bears and trapezes all around me. Oh yeah, that was the circus button. It's mostly a hallucination, but it's enough to get me out of there. I leave my henchmen behind in the confusion while they try to avoid getting killed by a falling highwire act. I laugh as I make my exit. The next three blocks I walk are all circus tents. Sometimes I feel like I work to hard.


	3. Chapter 2: The Cat and The Bird

Gotham War: Chapter 2

Note: Okay so it's been forever since the last update. Sorry about that. Anyway, this chapter is about Catwoman and The Penguin. This chapter is kind of slow for my taste, but I mean I wrote it, so I still think it's awesome. The story will pick up more speed from this point on, but I'm not sure how many more chapters I am going to do. I guess it depends on how many people like the story. This chapter is a bit confusing. The first part is told from Catwoman's point of view. The second part is the third pov, and the last bit is again from Catwoman's point of view. I'm not really sure why I'm doing multiple POVs in one chapter but um... I mean, I'm trying this as a new literary technique. Yeah that's it, a new literary technique.

So enjoy...

Gotham War: Chapter 2

The Cat and The Bird

"Bwahahahaha," laughed the fat man.

I think he's an idiot. A disgusting fool. Repulsing, arrogant, obnoxious, and yet still, very rich. And therefore I talk to him. Flirt with him. Make him feel like he holds power over me even though he holds no such thing. He tells me that if I'm good, I'll get lucky tonight.

A few hours later, I do. Not in the sense he was hoping for. Probably not what he wanted at all. I am taking all of his prized possessions from his house actually. He gave me the keys telling me to 'come over later tonight.' Well now I was there, and he was elsewhere, and I was getting rich.

But then I hear the door to the house being unlocked. That's my cue to stow away into the night. I gather up my spoils and head through a window. I jump from there to a tree and escape into the darkness.

--

"Hmph," pouted the fat man. He had just been robbed of many of his favorite trinkets. He wasn't too upset though. He had expected nothing less from the famous Catwoman. Indeed he had it all figured out, the bitch would seduce Gotham's rich and famous, and then take their stuff when they weren't home.

The fat man wasn't worried though. He'd get his things back. It would take time, but he was willing to wait. After all, the things the Catwoman took were worthless compared to what the fat man had planned: A complete takeover of Gotham! From the cities wealthy society to the city's dangerous underground, Oswald Cobblepot would rule it all. He would have power beyond what anyone in a crap city like Gotham could imagine.

Cobblepot was dangerous. A criminal mastermind, with a knack for creating gag gizmos and weapons. At first glance he didn't look that harmful at all. Indeed, a stout man, with a pointed nose. A messy head of black hair, and a gleaming monocle. His head connected to his body not by a neck, but by one large chin of fat. To complete the absurd image, he wore a black and white tuxedo suit.

A somewhat respected business man, and entrepreneur, he was also a somewhat feared crime lord, and gang leader. Only somewhat though. To put it simply, he had the mediocrity of both worlds.

--

Looking over my spoils, I am quite proud of myself. I managed to rob the famous Oswald Cobblepot. A dangerous, yet rewarding feat. And it was all pretty easy too… Too easy.

How cliché.

Now that I think about it, I wonder where that repulsive man was when I was taking his things. After all, he had invited me to his house, and given me the keys. Now that I think about it, he probably knew what the outcome would be. Just because he looks like an idiot doesn't mean he is one…

Then I hear the door of my apartment crash down. The men searching for me don't see me yet, but I see them. How could I have been so stupid! To be fooled by someone like Cobblepot. It makes me sick.

Then one of the men sees me. He shouts out, and I back away. I make an escape through the window only to find that my house is in fact surrounded.

Damn it.

"Ms. Kyle," said one of the men, "The Penguin would like a word with you."


End file.
